


Weighed Down

by SalamanderGoo



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Just of a random background patient, M/M, Multi, Theyre all just real tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 22:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17191796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalamanderGoo/pseuds/SalamanderGoo
Summary: It’s been a long week.  When a patient dies, it’s time to just go home.





	Weighed Down

They’d lost a patient.

It happened from time to time, the price of being a doctor, especially one like a diagnostician. And yet this time… it felt like it hit them all harder than usual.

House stood in the doorway of the hospital room, watching as Cameron and Foreman worked to resuscitate the patient. But it had been over five minutes now with no response. “Time of death, 2:09 am,” he said softly.

“No!” Cameron kept doing CPR, tears streaming down her face. “We can’t stop! We can save her!”

“Cameron… Allison.” Foreman carefully grabbed her wrists to stop the compressions. “She’s gone.”

“We failed.” House turned, heading back towards his office, leaving Chase to deal with the grieving mother.

And ten minutes later when Wilson was searching for him, that’s where he was, staring at the board of symptoms and twirling his cane. “House-”

“What did we miss?” He didn’t even look up, hardly acknowledging Wilson. “She’s 25. ...was 25. 25 year olds don’t just die.”

“She was sick.”

“With what though?” He set his cane down and sighed. “I can’t figure out what we’re missing. We were treating her.”

“I know.” Wilson rested a hand on his shoulder. House almost shrugged it off, but his shoulders slouched instead.

The team was back, Cameron crying silently, Chase’s hand on her back, and Foreman just walking with them. Foreman sat down heavily, expression characteristically blank. House didn’t even look over, eyes locked on the board in front of him.

It was silent for a long time. It could have been 10 minutes, could have been 10 hours. The silence was tense, suffocating. At some point, Cameron had moved to Foreman’s lap, her head laying on his shoulder, his hands playing with her hair, even as his expression stayed detached. Chase had his head on Foreman’s other shoulder, eyes seemingly far away. And Wilson just stood behind House, a hand on his shoulder as they looked at the board of symptoms.

“Go home.” A quiet, sympathetic voice broke the delicate silence. Cuddy stood in the doorway, the early hour making her appear exhausted. “I don’t want to see any of you until Monday. Including you, Wilson. I’ve moved your appointments.”

“Cuddy, it’s not-“

“Shut up House. You all need rest. This is your third intense case this week and I know even you aren’t okay after this one. Just go before I change my mind.”

House could feel all the eyes on him, so he sucked in a deep breath and planted his cane on the floor, easing to his feet. “Who am I to say no to a vacation?” He looked over at his team. “You heard her. Get out of here.”

Cameron slowly got up, eyes bloodshot. She’d stopped crying though. Foreman squeezed Chase’s hand as they stood, Chase picking up Cameron’s purse from where it was sitting on the table. It was wordless, the three of them preparing to leave, never quite straying apart. They found strength in each other, and House knew exactly what was between them. And for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to take a jab at it.

He just grabbed his keys and turned to leave.

As House limped out, he could hear Wilson following, but didn’t look up until the elevator doors closed. “You’re quiet.” Wilson’s voice wasn’t questioning, just a solid statement.

“Yeah.”

“Are you hungry? We can get some food on our way home.”

House shook his head. His stomach kept turning, and he wanted to drink until he blacked out, maybe forget today altogether. “I’m fine.” The way he was gripping his cane seemed to imply otherwise.

“Greg-“

“I’m fine, Wilson.” He shook his head a little. “I… don’t want to talk.”

Wilson squeezed his shoulder, but nodded, keeping his hand there to support House as they stepped out of the elevator at the ground floor.

The hospital was as quiet as it could get at this hour. The only light from outside came from streetlights and the occasional car passing by. They just stood there for a long moment as House gathered his bearings. It was cold and overcast outside, somewhat matching his mood.

As Wilson guided House to his car, he saw his team over by Chase’s car and sighed, looking away as Cameron hugged Foreman tightly before getting in the car. Wilson’s hand was on his shoulder, and he couldn’t help but to lean into the touch, fatigue weighing down on him full force. He’d never admit it, but it had been very near 48 hours since he’d last slept, vicodin hardly staving off the pain in his leg.

God, he was so tired.

He rubbed at his thigh as he got into the car, staring out the window, the bags under his eyes telling of the long hours he’d been spending all too awake. Wilson opened his mouth to say something, but let it fall shut, instead starting to drive home. It was almost too silent, but neither of them had anything to say. 

The streets were empty. And the dark and quiet was just the right amount of suffocating, pressing but not too heavy on them. Once he’d parked in front of their home, Wilson got out to help House inside, supporting him by the arm. He didn’t even argue, just sat down heavily on the bed, leaning down to get his shoes off and get changed. Wilson handed him clothes. “Do you want the heating pad for your leg?”

“Nah. Doubt it’ll do much tonight. I’ll sleep it all off.” He changed as quick as he could without jostling his leg too bad, laying down with a heavy sigh.

As House closed his eyes, Wilson took a long moment to just watch him. “...you should probably get a shower.”

“I’ll shower after I get some sleep, germaphobe.”

“Fine.” Wilson didn’t even put up a fight, climbing into bed. “Can I hold you?”

“As long as you don’t call it cuddling. I’ll kick you with my good leg if you do.” House didn’t object as Wilson wrapped his arms around his waist, gently pulling him closer. “...sleep well Jimmy.”

“I love you, Greg.” He felt House softly squeeze his hand as they both drifted to sleep.

Somewhere else, Cameron couldn’t sleep. Chase’s back was pressed to hers, Foreman on the other side of the bed. Chase probably had his head resting against Foreman’s neck, and as much as she loved to admire the two of them, she couldn’t. She had no idea how long she’d been laying there, staring at the wall, but eventually, it was too much.

She slipped out of bed, glancing at the clock, neon red numbers burning her eyes just a little. 5:19. She grabbed a blanket off the end of the bed, padding out of the bedroom. After Cuddy had dismissed them, they’d ended up back at Chase’s apartment. Most nights ended in Foreman’s apartment, since his bed was the biggest, but Chase lived closest.

She stood in the living room, wrapped in a soft blanket, and just stared out the window as the first flurries of a snowstorm began. She was so tired.

“Allison,” a soft voice murmured, arms wrapping around her waist.

“Eric, I… I can’t sleep.” She leaned back against him, closing her eyes.

“I figured as much. Thinking about the patient?” At her silent nod, Foreman sighed faintly. “I know it gets to you… I know it hurts.” He could feel her start to tremble slightly, starting to sway just a little, arms holding her close. “Remember the teenager we saved earlier this week? You were the one who figured out what she has and she’ll live a full life because of you.”

Cameron turned in his arms, pressing her face into his shoulder. “I hate when we can’t cure them.”

“I know you do. But when this happens, try to remember the times we’ve succeeded. All the times we will succeed.” He kissed her forehead softly, smiling faintly when she yawned. “Let’s go back to bed. If the snow isn’t too bad we can go out for a late breakfast. Sound good?”

She nodded, wiping at her damp eyes. “Yeah. If we can get Robert out of bed.” She smiled a little, giving Foreman a faint kiss on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He kept an arm around her as they went back into the bedroom.

Chase blinked sleepily up at them. “Why’d you get up?”

“I was having trouble sleeping.” Cameron got into bed, laying in the spot where Foreman had been. She laid down close to him, smiling a little when he laid his head against her collarbone and Foreman laid behind her, an arm around her waist. Chase reached down to pull the blankets back up, not even opening his eyes. Exhaustion finally took its hold on her, and curled up between the two of them, Cameron finally fell asleep.


End file.
